


Everyone’s New Semester of Thievery

by Whatamievendoing



Category: Persona 5
Genre: F/M, Gen, POV First Person, Persona 5: The Royal Spoilers, no beta we die like men
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-05-12
Updated: 2020-06-27
Packaged: 2021-03-02 17:40:07
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 13,229
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24150700
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Whatamievendoing/pseuds/Whatamievendoing
Summary: Was it just Akira or was the entire world slightly wrong in every possible way?
Comments: 1
Kudos: 12





	1. Insert Immediate Confusion

**Author's Note:**

> This was primarily intended as a writing exercise and because I wanted to collect some of my thoughts on the third-semester content. Any feedback is appreciated especially with the weird writing style I used.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> What the actual fuck was happening? Wakaba was alive, and all of his friends' personal issues and traumas seemed to have vanished. At least it seemed like Akechi may be of some help.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This was primarily intended as a writing exercise and because I wanted to collect some of my thoughts on the third-semester content. Any feedback is appreciated especially with the weird writing style I used.
> 
> Edited for clarity and because I have a crappy memory. I ended up consulting a let's play because I have the memory capacity of a jellyfish.  
> Edit: Formatting stuff.

Well, life was looking up. We’d all managed to defeat the god of control, the case against Shido will probably end with him in jail, Akechi was somehow alive despite everything and would likely spend the rest of his life in prison, ok that part was more depressing. Still, with any luck, I’ll probably get my record expunged, and graduate high school without a hitch. “It’s been one hell of a night, you should get some rest.” For once Mona was correct between the celebration and the last week of insanity I was very exhausted.

ꗴꗳꗾꗳꗴ

Why was I at school? How did I get here? I should probably go home. “Class will be dismissed momentarily.” The voice proceeded to slow down like someone lowering the speed of a turntable. I really should get home. I slowly made my way from the nurse’s office to the school’s entrance. 

_If that hadn't happened I would've been able to enjoy my time in high school with Shiho._

_I was hoping to get into a good college and get some scholarships to make things easier for my mom._

Huh?? I saw a butterfly, floating through the hallway. Perhaps I should follow it. I started following the butterfly, maybe it would lead somewhere. 

_My sister's been supporting my family. I feel bad trying to demand more from her._

_I wish I could help Okumura Foods grow, with my father watching over me._

There’s the door. “Where are you going?" the voice came from the loudspeaker, “I need to go home.” “Home? But isn't this where you belong? I see. So you still haven't accepted it. Well, I won't force you into anything. Let's meet again." With that, the school doors finally opened.

ꗴꗳꗾꗳꗴ

When I finally did wake up the dream only seemed to leave a lingering sense of confusion and mild dread. “Hey, are you gonna come downstairs?” Sojiro was probably worried about me. 

After having my breakfast I helped out around the cafe. I didn’t really have other plans for the day. I noticed there was a new customer that I hadn’t seen before. They were a fairly attractive-looking young man with dark hair and quite vibrant blue eyes, his appearance was just boyish enough to make him the kind of guy you might have a one-night-stand with during college for the sake of experimentation. To further his confusion Sojiro was conversing with him like they were a regular customer, maybe they tend to visit while I’m at school. 

The bell rang, another person had come in. It was Futaba. She was dressed up in a fancy kimono complete with her hair done up. I wonder how she did that, I didn’t think that Sojiro would have done it, and it seemed unlikely that Futaba did it herself. Perhaps she had asked Ann or one of the other girls for help.

“Hiya!”

“What’s up with the fancy getup?” I wasn’t sure what warranted the occasion.

“Mom and I were gonna go to Meiji Shrine this afternoon”

Wait, mom? Wakaba had died. **What was going on?**

ꗴꗳꗾꗳꗴ

**Kasumi:** I hope you didn’t forget our promise.

 **Akira:** What promise??

 **Kasumi:** You promised that we would go to Meiji Shrine in the new year! :P 

**Akira:** I forgot I’m so sorry! When do you want to meet up?

 **Kasumi:** I was thinking around 1:30. That way the shrine won’t be completely packed.

 **Akira:** Good thinking I’ll see you there! ;)

After hearing Futaba casually mention her mom like she was still around made things especially confusing. Going to the shrine might help clear my head. 

ꗴꗳꗾꗳꗴ

By one-thirty, I’d made my way over to the shrine via the subway. I spotted Kasumi standing on my sidewalk, guess she was waiting for me.

“Hey, Kasumi!”

“Senpai! I’m rather glad you came.”

“Kasumi, it’s okay if you call me by name.” She always insisted on calling me that, I felt like we were good enough friends at this point 

“Oh, I’m sorry.” Craaap I made her anxious. FuckFuckfuckfuckfuckfuck.

“I-I didn’t mean it to come across that way. I'd just prefer it if you called me Akira. I didn’t mean to cause you distress.” 

“L-let’s go to the shrine.” I tried to change the subject, I just didn’t know how to calm her nerves.

ꗴꗳꗾꗳꗴ

We made our wishes for the new year. 

“The shrine is oddly empty. Especially for the new year”

“I was hoping that it wouldn’t be too crowded. But now I kinda wish that there were some other people here.” Kasumi wasn’t wrong, the place felt oddly empty even for the time of year. Last time I was here with Ann it was rather crowded, it felt odd. 

I suddenly noticed that there were other people at the shrine despite it seeming abandoned. Makoto, Yusuke, Futaba, Ann, Ryuji; the gangs all here. 

“Oh hey, guys. What are you doing here?”

They explained that they were there for the same reason that we were. To pay their respects and make their wishes at the shrine.

“Well, Shiho and I were gonna go to the mall later.”

“I’ve got track practice.”

“I was planning on spending the day with mom and Sojiro.”

“My father wanted to talk to me about some business ventures.”

“I guess we’re going our separate ways for the day.” I chimed in, I was kind of upset and also confused, Haru’s dad was dead, we all saw it on the TV. No one seemed to take note of that or act surprised that Okumura wasn’t dead. Am I hallucinating? In a coma? What is even going on here? How come no one else seems to be aware that things aren’t normal?!?

ꗴꗳꗾꗳꗴ

After parting ways with the rest of the thieves I decided to walk back home with Kasumi. 

At the entrance, a man was looking like he was waiting for someone

“Dad!” The guy must have been Kasumi-chan’s father.

“Oh, I guess you’re Kasumi’s father?”

“And you must be the Senpai that she's been talking about so much.”

“It’s not that often dad.” Kasumi attempted to clarify.

“You often talk about him after school.”

“DAD,” Kasumi exclaimed in a way that seemed like she was trying to say “Stop embarrassing me.” 

“Well, it was nice to meet you in person, Kurusu-san”

“You too Mr. Yoshizawa”

“Let’s go home §பጣᛏre” 

What was that? It was like I heard something get censored out in real-time. Something was up.


	2. Murphy's Law is my Enemy

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Akira, Kasumi, and Akechi investigate the strange distortion in Odaiba. The ruler of the palace seems to know far more than they're letting on.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm back. Any feedback would be very appreciated.  
> Edited a bit for various reasons

After all the insanity of the day, I really needed some sleep. Perhaps I was hoping that I’d wake up and everything would go back to normal, and it would’ve all been a dream. 

As my brain was slowly awoken from my otherwise pleasant sleep I slowly realized that someone else was in my bed, which definitely woke me up. What the fuck, it was the dude from yesterday. 

“What the fuck are you doing in my house?!?’ I quickly fumbled pushing the guy out of my bed 

“What are you talking about? I usually stay here.” He attempted to explain what was even happening. Was I supposed to know him?

“I can sleep on the couch if that makes you feel better.”

“Yeah, I guess that would work.” I honestly didn’t want some random stranger in my bed in such a matter, regardless of how attractive they were.

  
  


ꗴꗳꗾꗳꗴ

I really hoped that the previous day had just been the product of a really bad acid trip or a fever dream. I was immediately proven wrong when I saw Futaba, Sojiro, and **Wakaba Ishikki** eating breakfast together. Along with Mr. Stranger Danger from last night. Am I slowly losing my mind?? 

“Morning, you want something to eat?” Futaba was asking me. It’d probably be better for my health to get something in my stomach before wandering aimlessly around Yongen, desperately trying to make sense of my surroundings.

“By the way, who’s this guy?” I pointed at Mr. Bed Invader wondering who the hell he was if he seemed to be a part of the family unit that I had with Sojiro and Futaba.

“That’s Morgana. Did you hit your head or something?” Sojiro did his best to explain. I guess I could see Morgana if I looked through frosted glass and squinted a lot. 

Wait… I thought Morgana was attractive at least once?!?!?!

“Are you going to eat your breakfast?” ‘Morgana’ asked me.

“I’ll take some to go.” I grabbed what I could and shoved it into my mouth hoping that I’d get anything resembling an answer soon. 

“Good morning.” Akechi?   
“Akechi-san what great timing I really need to talk to you.” I could tell Akechi had made a very small momentary glance at Wakaba and seemed rather shocked. Maybe he also knew something was up.

“I could say the same Kurusu-san.” 

Thank whatever gods that did exist, it seemed like we were on the same page.

ꗴꗳꗾꗳꗴ

We chose to talk further about whatever was even happening at the laundromat across the street for some degree of privacy.

“So how are you out of prison? Considering everything shouldn’t they still be interrogating you and looking for charges to file?” I was really baffled by everything going on and how Akechi was out of prison confused me.

“To be honest I’m not quite sure either. For some reason yesterday they simply let me go.”

“And, I don’t mean to beat a dead horse. But how are you not dead?!”

“To be honest I’m not sure how I survived either.” I guess it made some kind of sense. In such a life or death situation one’s memories of the exact details might be somewhat fuzzy.

“Though there’s something I find more concerning.” Akechi interjected

“What would that be exactly?” I wasn’t sure what he meant. There was so much weird stuff that happened in the past day that couldn’t be certain of what he meant

“Specifically, the presence of Wakaba Ishikki.” He wasn’t wrong. Wakaba had been dead for over 2 years. It didn’t make sense for her to somehow be alive.

**Bzzt Bzzt**

“You can take it.” Akechi permitted me to answer the call.

_“Hey Senpai?”_ _  
_ “What is it Kasumi?”

_“I want you to come to Odaiba, there’s something really weird here.”_

“How so?” Weird what did she mean?

_“I don’t know, I think you should come and see for yourself.”_

“Don’t worry I heard that. Mind if I come with you?” I didn’t have any real objections. Akechi was someone I did trust a bit, and he seemed to be aware of the fact that weird stuff was happening. Despite my distaste for his past behavior and actions, he may be the only ally I have.

“Well, why not.”

ꗴꗳꗾꗳꗴ

When we did get to Odaiba the thing Kasumi mentioned was immediately noticeable. The palace where she first awakened to her persona was slightly visible in the real world, the palace itself seemed to fade in and out of visibility. Things were getting stranger and stranger. 

“Ah, Akira-senpai, and Akechi-san? What are you doing here?” Her question was clearly aimed at Goro, I should try and fill her in.

“Akechi-kun and I were talking about whatever it is that’s happening while I got your phone call. I figured that he should tag along.”

“So what exactly is that?” Akechi inquired.

“That’s a palace that Se-Akira-san and I found around October. For some reason, it’s visible in the real world now.” A palace? Perhaps I should see if the Meta-Nav was an option. After a second or so of looking I found it was still on my phone. Even though Yaldabaoth and the Metaverse were gone it was still around. To further the confusion it no longer sported the red and black design, but a black and white one. There were some very light pinks, blues, and other colors giving it an iridescent hue.

“Kasumi-chan, do you have this palace in your nav search history?”

“Let me check. That’s odd. The location and distortion are available but the name has been erased.”

“How would that be possible?” There was clear frustration in Akechi’s voice.

“Whoever it is they don’t want anyone intruding into their palace.” The only answer I could think of was that the ruler knew a lot about cognitive psience, but I don’t even know how that could be done. Were they aware that they had a palace? Did they know about the Meta-Nav?

“Let’s try getting in.” Both Akechi and Kasumi gave me rather baffled looks. 

“I am not certain, but I think this place is the source of the strange events happening right now. It wouldn’t hurt to investigate.”

“Ok, let’s go!” Kasumi hit the button to get us into the Metaverse.

ꗴꗳꗾꗳꗴ

We had finally entered the Metaverse. Akechi briefly explained why he was using his “Black Mask” outfit to Kasumi. After that, we began infiltration. I quickly took stock of what personas I had on me; Satan, Gabriel, Dominion, Lilith, Cu Chulainn, and Barong, I lacked any fire specialists with only Kasumi and Akechi that could be a fair problem, and it wasn’t like I could have Ann join us. I looked around hoping to see the familiar blue cell door, sadly there was nothing. It looks like I might be boned in that department.

“Senpai? Are we going to get moving?”

“Sorry I was lost in thought for a bit.”

“Let’s move it, Joker.” Akechi wanted to get this show on the road.

ꗴꗳꗾꗳꗴ

I hadn’t been able to get as good of a look at the palace while attempting to rescue Kasumi-chan. Now that I did get a good look it was both beautiful and cold. Beautiful and magnificent like an actual palace, yet cold and sterile. Not cold like a refrigerator, but cold like a brick wall. While I could think of the other palaces as places that could be lived in, or populated with people, and even felt lived in while this palace felt imposing and uncomfortable. Less like a place of comfort or fantasy and more like a glass sculpture to be admired from afar.

As we made our way through the entrance one thing I noticed was the high amount of people or cognitive people that were present in the palace. Last time I was here it was completely empty and had only shadows present. I should keep mental notes of this stuff.

After fighting a few shadows and finding our first safe room there was a strange circular area in the middle that I hadn’t looked into yet. That was probably the best way forward.

ꗴꗳꗾꗳꗴ

We entered the circular area that overlooked the entrance. Was that a man crying?

"That voice. Look!" I turned to face the source of the noise, it was a recording of what looked like Kasumi's father.

_"Everyone will be arriving soon, Mom, Grandma. Yes, she'll be here too. I'm sure she'll be here once she manages to calm down." Kasumi's father tried to maintain his composure while talking to the dead girl._

_"Why, why" Her father went back to crying over his loss, though it was interrupted by the entrance of another person that seemed to be a young girl._

_"Dad?"_

"That was your father in the video just now, wasn't it, Yoshizawa-san? And the person he was speaking to..." Akechi was testing the waters to get some information. 

“My sister Sumire. I'd mentioned to you that I've lost a family member.” I recalled that she had mentioned it a once or twice.

"Wait, but how was this video? Gah!" Kasumi clutched her head like she was experiencing an oncoming migrane.

"Kasumi, are you ok?"

"I'm sorry i'm not sure what's been wrong with me lately. I've been getting this feeling like I need to remember something, but I shouldn't at the same time." 

"Can you still walk Yoshizawa-san? What ever is happening we need to keep going if we want to learn about it." Akechi was being oddly considerate despite the situation, maybe because he knew the pain of losing a family member.

“Yes, I'm alright let's go” Her voice was laced with anxiety and a sense of inferiority. Like if she didn’t help she was little more than dead weight.

ꗴꗳꗾꗳꗴ

We made our way to a spot that was labeled “observation room” on the map that I had. When we got close to a corridor leading down there was suddenly a display of a young brown-haired girl that seemed to have won some sort of award.

_“So what is it like being one of the youngest girls to win a national gymnastics competition?”_

_“It’s quite incredible.” the girl optimistically replied_

_“So many people are wondering what motivates you to try so hard?”_

_“Lots of things. But it’s mostly wanting to achieve my dream with my sister. Ah, Sumire!”_

The girl on stage waved in Kasumi-chan’s direction. But why? Sumire? What is happening?

Kasumi(?) looked on with confusion

Maruki??? What? I couldn’t tell at the distance if it was a shadow or cognition.

“Ah, I see that you’ve found me. Please, by all means, come down.” Maruki was inviting us down? He was also dressed in the same all-white suit as the other male cognitions, he also had his hair slicked back which was a very unnerving look on him. 

“He doesn’t seem hostile. We might be able to negotiate with him.” I was hoping that Maruki(?) would at least be willing to talk to us. Unlike other shadows, he wasn’t immediately hostile. 

Once we got down and I got a closer look I could tell that the Maruki in front of us wasn’t a shadow, but the real Maruki that I had known for the past months at school.

“So are you the ruler of this place?”

“Well yes, you could say that.” Maruki quickly answered my question.

“Are you responsible for the abnormalities in the world?” Akechi inquired

“So you’ve noticed the reality that I’ve made for you. How do you like it?”

“What?” This was all his doing? But how?

“Please I implore you, don’t explore this place any further.” 

“What do you mean.” Akechi was clearly trying to hold himself back from stabbing Maruki to bits right now.

“Perhaps I could explain some of Yoshizawa-san’s confusion.”

A screen slowly descended from the ceiling. Once it had finished its descent it started displaying a video.

ꗴꗳꗾꗳꗴ

The video showed two girls walking down a street on a rainy day. One of them had brown hair put up in a ponytail and a mole under her left eye. Due to the nature of the video, the other girl wasn’t visible. The video seemed to be filmed from her perspective.

_The brown-haired girl referred to the POV girl as “Sumire”, now that I thought about it. Was the brown-haired girl Kasumi. But who would that make the Kasumi I know?_

_The brown-haired girl talked about various awards she had won at gymnastics competitions. She insisted that “Sumire”(?) was still very good and that she was valued to the other girl. The narration from Sumire(?) seemed to indicate an inferiority complex to the other girl, Kasumi. As much as she tried she felt she’d never be good enough. Sumire(?) ended up haphazardly walking into traffic. Kasumi pushed her out of the way, getting the other to safety, only for a car to leave her bleeding out on the pavement. The girl that was alive could only look on with horror and possibly regret._

I looked at Kasumi(?) unsure of what to do. Before I could speak her Metaverse outfit evaporated and the ribbon that held her hair up fluttered to the ground.

“Kasumi-chan?” I asked her hesitantly. I wasn’t sure what was happening. But I could tell that the video broke her otherwise optimistic spirit.

“That’s right, I’m the one who should have died. I’m the reason that Kasumi is dead.” 

Wait, what? So Kasumi no Sumire had been pretending to be her sister, who actually did die in a car accident.

“Maruki, what the hell happened here?” I needed answers and now.

“Yoshizawa-san asked for this.”

“I-I don’t want to go back to living as Sumire.”

With little fanfare, Maruki quickly rendered Yoshizawa unconscious.

“What are you going to do to her!” I was pissed the hell off. I didn’t know what Maruki was going to her and I desperately wanted to keep her safe and ensure her happiness.

“I certainly don’t intend to fight you though.” Before I could do anything to bum rush him, a freaky shadow I hadn’t seen before popped out of the ground as a security measure. 

“Joker, we’ll need to get past that.”

“Don’t have to tell me twice!”

ꗴꗳꗾꗳꗴ

“Akechi try using curse attacks.” The shadow didn’t take any damage from it. If it blocks curse it might be weak to bless skills.

“Dominion!” Bless skills didn’t work either.

“New plan try using skills with high crit rates” Akechi proceeded to use One-Shot-Kill for it to only do minimal damage. I remembered that he also didn’t have any healing skills. Fuck. That would heavily limit my versatility.

The awkward tango of trying to heal and avoid damage, healing Akechi, and attempting to find any weak spots continued for several turns before Akechi had an idea.

“Joker, follow my lead.”

“Got it, let’s try this idea” It would probably be more effective than the bizarre thing that we were currently doing.

ꗴꗳꗾꗳꗴ

Akechi’s idea had worked and successfully gotten rid of the shadow.

“What a shame and you don’t even want to see the reality that I’ve created for you.” Maruki’s statement left me confused

“Akechi, we should retreat for now.”

“If you’re going to leave, please come back in a week.” Why did Maruki want us back in a week?

Akechi and I hastily retreated to the real(?) world. I wasn’t sure if I wanted to cry, scream, or lie on the floor.

“Akira,” Akechi’s voice quickly pulled me back to reality. “I think you should contact the rest of your friends.” He wasn’t wrong. With just Akechi my options in combat would be far more limited. If possible I need their help.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So Maruki's Palace theme is really atmospheric and just slaps in general.  
> URL: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P0qfCXKZ8Ow&list=PLq9z3GmD3R9Mr9Y1WZ4o1nded5kUgA88d&index=18
> 
> Also, the personas that Akira has available are the ones I had while playing through this segment of the game. Based on one commenter's feedback I'm gonna remove all the DLC personas mentioned except Raoul. (B/c it's the only one that makes any degree of sense and the AOE sleep effect pretty much carried my ass in Maruki's palace.)


	3. Turn it off, it's nifty cognitive trick.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Trying to help my friends and slap some sense into them all while working on a time limit is a perfect cocktail for stress.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sweet Jesus this chapter ended up being twice as long as the first and second chapters combined.  
> What have I done? Anyway back to the regularly scheduled nonsense.  
> (Yes the chapter title is a Book Of Mormon reference, sue me.)  
> Any feedback is appreciated.

At this point, all I could do was go home and try to metaphorically knock some sense into the rest of the thieves. Feeling like utter garbage and a useless moron meant that the subway ride home would be filled with sad music and staring at nothing in particular. I wasn’t able to help Sumire. What kind of friend was I?

ꗴꗳꗾꗳꗴ

“Welcome back.” Oh, it was Morgana.

“Where were you?” 

“Busy contemplating the futility of existence,” I said sarcastically.

“Are you okay?”

“It’s nothing, Mona.”

“So I was thinking about going to some hot springs with the other Phantom Thieves. Lady Ann and I-” Mona proceeded to giggle softly. Geeze can’t the guy take a hint that Ann’s not into him at all? What a perve.

“How’s that sound? We should ask the rest of the gang about it.” Sounds relaxing but;

  1. I have to slap some sense into my teammates
  2. I’m small, very stressed out and I have no money
  3. I’m currently screaming into the abyss right now because of **everything**.



Maruki did say he wanted me to see the rest of this reality myself. I could slap some sense into them and see what the hell is happening in this world. Two birds with one stone.

“We should probably hit the hay, though I don’t think the bed has enough room for both of us.”

“Mona, are you truly happy?”

“Well, I guess I am. Why do you ask?”

“Are you happy with this reality?”

“This is the one we fought for with the others so- Wait… what did I mean by that? That… doesn’t seem right. I got captured at Kamoshida’s palace, and that’s when I met you guys. When we went to Mementos I’d turn into…” Morgana seemed to hit a wall of sorts in their train of thought.

“Keep thinking it through.”

“What was! Sorry, I’m gonna go outside and think for a bit.” It seemed like Mona may have recalled a bit of what really happened. It wasn’t possible to know what they were thinking. I could only hope.

ꗴꗳꗾꗳꗴ

After that chat, Morgana decided to sleep on the couch. Maybe I could sleep on the couch for a few nights. I think that sleeping on the couch wasn’t very healthy for the back. Though if you existed in any capacity your back sucked.

All the stuff today had left deeply emotionally exhausted.

“Sleep tight Akira.”

“Sweet dreams Mona.”

ꗴꗳꗾꗳꗴ

The remaining course of action was to hopefully slap some sense into the rest of the gang. I knew that Ann would likely be at the Underground Mall.

When I got there I saw Ann and Shiho chatting at one of the little clothing boutiques. 

“Omigod Shiho! I knew you could do it.”

“It’s all thanks to you supporting me Ann, I appreciate your support so much.”

“I’m not the one who deserves all the credit-you kept working so hard and now you’re finally being recognized for your work.”

“Akira? What a surprise! It’s been a while since you’ve seen Shiho.”

“It’s been a while Kurusu-kun. How’s it been?” Shiho seemed so happy. Unlike last May her eyes seemed to be brimming with life.

“How’s life been going?”

“It’s been quite nice thank you for asking,” Shiho replied.

“Ann and I haven’t been able to talk much since I transferred schools.”

“I’m sure he remembers, I’ve been talking all about my bestie who’s great at volleyball.”

“Ann, I’m sorry that you had to hear all that Kurusu-kun.”

“Not only did Shiho get in the starting lineup she scored the most points.”

Ann and Shiho seemed so happy together.

“Oh I forgot, Shiho’s going to be coming back to Shujin.”

“Shujin is very well known for their volleyball team,” Shiho explained.

“I’m so glad that you transferred back!”

“Is this everything that you hoped for?” Would it sway her opinion, hopefully?

“Huh, of course, it is.” Ann seemed confused.

“Do you have any doubts about it?”

“What do you mean, ‘any doubts’”

“Well I know I don’t. I’ve spent so much time worrying about everything that, what am I saying? ... I remember being so cornered I wanted to die, but then I met everyone and…”

I wasn’t psychic but I could tell that Ann was maybe trying to recall something. I was hoping that this would work.

“I’ll let you think it over.”

I could only hope that Ann would recall what happened in the past year.

ꗴꗳꗾꗳꗴ

I went looking for Ryuji the next day. Since he wasn’t at the arcade, like normal I figured he must be somewhere else. After spending about an hour and a half running around the subway I ended up at school. Ryuji was conversing with the track team.

“Whoa, you got scouted by that college?” That sounded like Nakaoka

“It’s not like that, it’s more like the schools discussing it or they’ve gotten word of it.”

“Still that’s awesome you even got on the podium in nationals!”

Ryuji seemed to be getting along well with the track team.

“Hey Akira, whaddya doing here? It’s still winter break.”

“Are you enjoying getting back into the track team?”

“Yeah, it’s really fun, whaddya mean? It’s just what I love doing. I feel all down when I can’t do track.”

“How’s your leg?”

“Why you asking man?” Ryuji’s face quickly contorted into an expression of confusion, just as soon as it was noticeable the expression subsided.

“Hope to see you soon.”

ꗴꗳꗾꗳꗴ

I managed to find Yusuke in Ueno. Thank God. 

“Ah, Akira you’ve come. I was just thinking of contacting you. Take a look. My mother’s painting is finally getting the recognition it deserves. It’s on display for this week only, I’m quite glad we have the chance to see it together. I’m truly blessed. I’ve waited so long to see this painting here. My drive to create a masterpiece of this caliber grows stronger every day. It’s also thanks to my Sensei’s patronage,” Did he mean Madarame? Was that the case?

“Each day brings me closer to creating such a work. Nothing could make me happier than I am at this moment.” 

“Your Sensei?” I needed to confirm what he was talking about.

“Ah, that would be Madarame.” Madarame was sponsoring his work? It’s likely that he was acting ethically and the plagiarism didn’t happen.

“Even after my mother’s death he never stopped advocating her work to the public. Not only that he took me in and cared for me after her death. I cannot thank him enough.”

“Ah, I just had a wonderful idea! Why don’t you join us for dinner?”

“Thank you, Yusuke, but I’ll pass. This is rather off-topic but, is Madarame a good Sensei?”

“Yes I’d say so, but… What’s this about, so out of the blue?”

“The ‘Sayuri’ looks great there.”

“The ‘Sayuri’? That’s not even the painting’s name… No, wait. That seems… Something’s not right.”

“I’ll let you think about it.” 

All I could do was hope that he would remember.

ꗴꗳꗾꗳꗴ

When heading to the connecting trains in Shibuya I saw Makoto and Sae chatting with each other. This seems like a good time to slap some sense into Makoto. 

“Ah Akira, what a coincidence.”

“Makoto-san I really wanted to talk to you.”

“Sis and I were just doing some shopping. Soon we’re going to be celebrating dad receiving the superintendent general award!”

“That’s incredible Mako-chan,” So Makoto wished for her father to be alive and successful. Given the impact his death had on her and Sae-san, it made sense. 

“Come on Makoto, didn’t dad tell you to act like it’s no big deal?”

“Sorry, I couldn’t help myself. I’m just so thrilled that he's getting the recognition that he deserves.”

“I’m very happy about it as well, by the way, what should we get at the grocery store before we go home?” Sae-san pondered.

“I wonder what dad would like for me to make for dinner?”

The two proceeded to discuss what was made for dinner on their birthday. But they both seemed so happy.

“So, Akira, what brings you here?”

“The train,” I replied sarcastically.

“I actually just wanted to see you.”

“Is something the matter?”

“Are you enjoying all the family time?”

“Well, yes. It’s certainly been great being able to see my dad at all,” Makoto’s expression warped into the kind that you make when you call a teacher “Mom” or say “You too” when the waiter says to enjoy your food.

“Wait, something’s wrong. Mom died and dad had to raise us alone… and Sis…”

“I’ll let you figure it out.”

ꗴꗳꗾꗳꗴ

Knowing Futaba if she wasn’t at home or at Leblanc begging Sojiro for some of his curry, she was likely in Akihabara looking at the latest electronics or begging Sojiro to buy her a new game.

“Futaba I thought we just came here to buy a new game.” Begging for a new game it was. 

“Can’t you see? Between the limited editions and all the gear they have, it’s this store’s fault for being a one-stop-shop for gaming! So… Mom?” Futaba said the last part rather pleadingly hoping that Wakaba would grant the wish that Sojiro wouldn’t.

“No, young woman. Do you think that I get research grants just by making puppy dog eyes? Request for additional funding: denied.”

“Hrrrgh my case was dismissed. Hm, Akira?”

“Well look who we stumbled into today.” Sojiro seemed to take note of my presence.

“Futaba pick something already. You still want to get lunch after this, right? You can come with us if you’d like.”

“How thoughtful of you Sojiro. Futaba, Sojiro’s going to pay for our lunch.”

“Hey don’t go putting words in my mouth.”

“Well then let’s head back to Leblanc. It’s curry time.” Futaba always seemed to get super excited over boss’ curry.

“Don’t you eat that all the time?” Sojiro teased.

“You really can’t seem to get enough of it, can you Futaba? She does have a point though.”

“So Akira wanna join us?” 

“It’s a dish that he holds close to his heart.”

“Of course Sojiro and Mom worked together to improve the flavor! And… huh?”

“You need to move on Futaba.”

“Whaddya mean by that?! Moving on... but.”

“You can think it over.”

ꗴꗳꗾꗳꗴ

That only left Haru to talk to. I could usually find her taking care of the plants on the school roof. Since it was winter break she probably wouldn’t be there. If I was Haru where would I be? Somewhere that I could be both cute and sadistic? Shinjuku, Kanda, Inokashira park; unlikely, Kichijoji seemed the most likely of my options.

I saw Haru talking with her dad. Like Wakaba, he was entirely alive and healthy. The question of how would probably have to be saved for later.

“The amount of pedestrian traffic here is ideal. This would make a great location for a new store.”

“I agree,” Haru replied.

“The research says that this community is most interested in high-quality ingredients and modern interior design. Maybe this location should focus on organic produce and a simple interior.”

“Oh, Akira-kun. I didn’t expect to see you here.”

“What were you two talking about?”

“I’m helping out my father today. We’re here to inspect a new site for a potential store.” 

“Is this boy a friend of yours Haru?”

“He’s been a wonderful friend to me. He happens to be an underclassman at Shujin.”

“Are you really ‘just friends’”

“Father!” Haru’s tone seemed deeply embarrassed. 

“Please don’t jump to conclusions like that!”

“I was just teasing Haru. Still, please do tell me if you have a boyfriend.”

“It's been quite a while since I’ve seen Haru this happy. You must be a wonderful friend to her.”

“By the way, would you care to do something together Akira-kun? We have some free time, so we could go grab some coffee or something.”

“So, how’s business lately?”

“Don’t know all the details-I’m just helping out my father. He’s been busy, but the staff has been holding up their end of things. They’re scouting out new business locations as well.”

“What do you plan on doing next?”

“Huh, well my next steps would be...I plan to work alongside my father and help him… Why do I feel like I’m forgetting something?”

“I’m sure you can figure this out Haru-chan.”

ꗴꗳꗾꗳꗴ

It was already the ninth, time was up. None of the others has contacted me. I guess I had to do this alone. Time to head out to Odaiba.

“Based on your expression I guess that your friends won’t be coming.”

“Unfortunately no dice. I can only really hope they’ll come around.”

“Oh yes, because I’m sure you’re all just as close as you were before reality changed.” I couldn’t tell if Akechi was trying to be sarcastic or not.

“Well, there’s no point in griping about it out here. Are you ready to do this? In all likelihood, we’ll have to confront Maruki physically. Do you think you’re prepared for such a possibility?”

“We need to save Yoshizawa-chan. I’ll do whatever it takes.”

ꗴꗳꗾꗳꗴ

Akechi, and I slowly made our way to the auditorium. I started to notice that  **a lot** of the shadows in this palace were weak to bless skills. Meaning that Akechi’s Curse focused kit would be hard to work with. Adding to that he had no self-heal skills meaning a large chunk of harder fights could end up being me playing babysitter to him. This wouldn't be as bad if I had some teammates to work with  **but** ,  **no** . I smell bad times all around. This would be fun, obviously.

We finally got into the auditorium. Some of the shadows had instructed us earlier to go there. No doubt Maruki was waiting for us there. 

ꗴꗳꗾꗳꗴ

When we did get to the center of the auditorium, lights were turned on without any warning. It took my eyes a few seconds to adjust. Maruki was standing on a platform ahead of us with Sumire sitting in what would more aptly be described as a throne rather than a regular chair.

“Thank you for coming.” Maruki, damn it. 

“What did you do to Sumire?” She had experienced so much trauma. What good would pretending to be her sister do?

“She’s only sleeping. I never had any intention of hurting her. Once her inner turmoil begins to settle I’ll let her remember her life as she wishes to live it.”

I’m not even remotely a psychologist but, what Maruki was doing for her, in the long term there’s no way this kind of behavior was healthy. Why didn’t Sumire’s family notice or do something? This wasn’t a healthy way for her to process the grief she had due to her sister’s death.

“The life that she wishes for, call it what you want-you’re merely brainwashing others for your own self-satisfaction.” Akechi’s statement didn’t seem entirely right to me. The way Maruki had been acting didn’t make it seem like what he was doing came from a selfish place at all.

“I’m aware that some people will interpret my actions that way. But if that self-satisfaction leads to the happiness of thousands of others, don’t you agree the outcome is for the best?” I see Maruki was operating on a Utilitarian mindset. He saw his actions as correct because they maximized the happiness of others. But could that justify overwriting reality as we knew it?

“Kurusu-Kun, if I understand correctly, you checked up on your friends this past week. This is the reality that they wished for, did any of them seem troubled by that?” He wasn’t incorrect. Until I tried to jog their memories I don’t think they saw any of this as out of the ordinary. I think at least.

“This is the ‘true’ reality. All you have to do is recognize it as such. Once you do, you can be as happy as they are.” I wasn’t sure that I quite got to the heart of Maruki’s modus operandi, but I wasn’t sure if I had any wishes to be fulfilled. I’d mostly accepted that I’d permanently have a criminal record. If any wish that I did have would be granted in his reality, Would that make any kind of struggle meaningless? Would that be a healthy thing to do?

“Didn’t you see it yourselves? Your friends don’t just want to live these lives, they want you to choose this reality too.” True, all of them were very happy, but at no point did they seem to pressure me into this decision. What a load of cult leader bullshit.

“Please I want you to understand for their sake as well as yours.”

I thought about it, but would it be for the best for everyone to stay in this reality?

“I reject your reality. I can’t accept false happiness.”

“Negotiations seem to have broken down.” 

“It appears we haven’t reached an understanding.” I still didn’t understand what made Maruki tick per se.

“No” Sumire?

“You’re not serious right senpai?! Please I’m begging you! Let me live as Kasumi!” She seemed so desperate. Like living that way was the last thing she could hold onto.

“You can’t run like this forever. Living as Kasumi, it’s not a healthy thing to do!” I was desperately hoping she would understand where I was coming from. Though given how desperate she was, it seemed doubtful.

“But why? The pain is too much… why can’t I just leave it behind me?! Kasumi is gone forever and it’s all my… all SUMIRE’S FAULT! I can’t live like that!” Her tone wasn’t that of anger, it was the kind that happened when you were faced with paralyzing despair. She quickly transformed into her metaverse clothes and leaped down to fight me directly.

“Please, don’t try to stop me. If you do then I’ll…”

“Sumire, please don’t do this.” I didn’t want to fight her at all, it was starting to seem like I wasn’t going to have much choice though.

“I don’t think she’ll back down. I could take care of this for you, but I presume you’d prefer her alive.” Dammit, looks like I was flying solo in this one.

ꗴꗳꗾꗳꗴ

“I refuse to live a Kasumi’s killer!” Sumire’s attacks were relentless. She spammed physical skills hoping to whittle down my health or land a critical hit. Since her persona specialized in bless skills it was probably weak to curse. Using Gabriel I cast Eiagon. It didn’t seem to do much. How was that possible? If she wanted to crit me out of existence then buffing my defense was the best option. Using Satan’s Black Viper skill was also a good option even if it ate up my SP. 

“Why are you doing this to me? Please just leave me alone!”

Sumire’s next move was to buff her crit likelihood. Spamming healing skills and Black Viper was the best option I had. I did eventually manage to lower her health even further.

ꗴꗳꗾꗳꗴ

“It seems like you lost.” Akechi, your help would’ve been useful. Asshole.

“Why?” Sumire begged.

“You need to stop this.” I was hoping Sumire could come to her senses.

“Akira-Senpai, I can’t… I can’t go back to being Sumire! You saw it yourself, it’s my own fault that my sister’s… Why don’t you understand?! Please, I beg you.”

Maruki stepped forward and came down the stairs.

“I can give you strength, so you don’t have to suffer.” What was Maruki scheming?

“Doctor,” Kasumi whimpered.

“Tell me: if you want your pain to end, and desire to live as Kasumi, I’ll actualize it!” The ground around Maruki was blanketed in a black fog, tentacles sprouted out of the floor and grabbed hold of Sumire. They quickly lifted her into the air and forced her persona to manifest. I wasn’t certain, but it did seem like Sumire had gone unconscious when her persona was forced out. The situation still felt horrifying. 

“What the hell?” I sputtered out. Why did he decide to go this far?

“Sadly she has lost sight of herself. She’s in pain. Now be her guide and escape this nightmare.” I wasn’t sure what Maruki meant by that last part. Sumire’s persona seemed to be in great pain. It seemed that brute force was our only option out of this.

“This so-called ‘kindness’ of his disgusts me.” I couldn’t have agreed more with Akechi. Whatever kind of service he was providing Sumire it wouldn’t be viable or healthy in the long term.

“Let’s finish this quickly.”

“I agree, Crow”

ꗴꗳꗾꗳꗴ

Things were looking bad from the outset. There were multiple shadows around Sumire’s persona. 

“Crow, use gun and physical skills. Just be sure to stay alive.”

“No need to tell me twice,” Crow immediately used Riot Gun. It only got rid of  **some** health. 

“Ice Age!” That didn’t do too much damage either. 

The persona used Makougon if it kept this up we’d be super screwed, Then it drained the health of one of the other shadows. 

Fuck. It has bless attacks, a butt-ton of health, and could easily regenerate health.

“Athena Picaro!” Using Marakukaja seemed like the best option that I did have. I needed to prolong our survival. But even that was looking slim.”

It felt like no matter how much damage we did, we were stuck either on the brink of death or having barely made a dent in it. It felt hopeless. The likelihood of backup arriving was slim to none. And we could barely do any meaningful harm to it since it would use a smaller shadow as fodder every other turn. 

“Damn it, I don’t think we’ll be able to win this.”

“Joker, if you die here I’ll bring you back just to kill you myself.” I wasn’t sure if Akechi was trying to be motivating in his own way, or if he’s just that messed up in the head.

“I’ll have to try to stay alive.”

“ _ I refuse to return! I will never go back to being such pathetic, soot-cover garbage _ ”

“You can’t tell, it’s her refusal to accept the truth.”

“We can’t afford to waste time on this shit!” 

Sumire’s persona cried out and started charging up an attack

“I don’t think so!” Huh? Who was that?

The persona fired out multiple rapid-fire shots of, something. Instead of getting hit by it, someone had taken it on. Hold on, I knew that hair. 

Ryuji! 

“Dammit Skull, I told you not to rush in like that!” Mona?

“At least it seemed to work out in our favor.”

Ann, Mona, Ryuji, Yusuke, Makoto, Futaba, Haru. They were all here. They were here. It made me so happy I wanted to cry.

“You’re all here.”

“Apologies for making you wait so long.” Yusuke, I’d missed all of his generalized weirdness.

“Is that?” Haru was understandably confused.

“It’s Yoshizawa’s persona. If we survive this I’ll try to explain all of this. Currently, we need to stop that thing and save her.”

“Well, Akechi-kun and Maruki are more confusing to me.”

“Yoshizawa’s trapped, but why is her persona doing this? What in the world is going on here?”

“This shit makes no sense, for now, let’s kick some ass!”

ꗴꗳꗾꗳꗴ

“Queen, Mona! I’ll need you on the front line! Crow and Fox switch out. The rest of you can hang back. Got it?”

It seemed to be the most effective team formation that I could think of. Makoto and Mona had healing skills and Makoto could buff the party’s defense. That left Yusuke and me to play the role of DPS.

Slowly grinding down the persona’s health was no easy feat. With Makoto’s Defense buffs and Morgana’s healing skills staying alive wasn’t too hard. It just felt like it would take forever.

ꗴꗳꗾꗳꗴ

The freaky tentacles finally released their grip in Sumire. Because of that she quickly fell over, I did manage to catch her in time thankfully.

“I can’t believe that you’ve thrown away your happiness to come here. And how it’s impossible.”

“You’re Dr. Maruki, right?” Ann’s confusion was rather warranted in this situation.

“That’s right,” Maruki answered

“But more importantly why are...”

“Dude, what’s doc doing inside a palace?” 

“He’s ruling this palace Skull. Not only that he’s the one responsible for this distorted reality. Is that right Maruki?”

“All of this was done for your own happiness.”

“Our happiness?” Yusuke questioned.

“Yes, I only wanted to grant your wishes, each and every one.”

“Wait, you what? Whaddya mean? We never wished for anything like that!”

“Is that really true?” Maruki seemed to probe us like we were supposed to know the answer.

“Huh?” Ryuji was as confused as all of us.

“No, never mind. So you intend to deny the reality I made for you. If you want to fight me, then so be it. If you intend to change my heart then that’s fine as well. But before that, I do think there’s still room for negotiation. Also, I believe taking care of Yoshizawa-san is more important than settling this right now.”

“Planning to run again?”

“Akechi, we should just get out of here.”

Sumire seemed to briefly regain consciousness, at that moment Maruki disappeared from the auditorium.

“February 3rd, I’ll hear your final decision then. If we can’t come to an agreement by then we’ll have no other choice than physical confrontation. As much as I would hate it I can’t give up everything I’ve worked for.”


	4. Exposition, Exposition, Rush it out ASAP

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The part where all the exposition is. And Ann shows that she can have her smart moments.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry that I haven't updated this thing in about 4 weeks I think. I don't really have any excuses for that. Any feedback is appreciated as usual.

We hastily made our way back to the entrance and the “real world”, I ended up being tasked with carrying Sumire. Yusuke was busy discussing how the palace was visible in the “real world” and how the nav had returned to our phones. Much of it was probably, intentionally or not, Maruki’s doing. 

“What does all of this have to do with Maruki?” I wasn’t sure how Maruki had suddenly gained reality-warping powers. 

“Hey, Akira do you have any ideas?”

“I’m just as clueless as the rest of you. All I know is that;

  1. Maruki has reality-warping powers
  2. We’re fucked



So could you stop asking questions I don’t have the answer to?” It wasn’t irrational for Ann or Mona to have questions, but just because I thought something was up from the get-go doesn’t mean I knew why any of this was happening.

“By the way, how are you alive Akechi?” Makoto’s inquiry was valid. When I’d run into him I’d been more distracted by someone who noticed things were weird to ask such questions.

“To be honest I’m not certain, although I do have a few hypotheses, I’m not certain.”

“And how can we be certain you won’t betray us?”

“Because for now, at least, our interests align. Once we take down Maruki I’ll be out of your hair. Besides if I did want to kill you I could have done so already.”

Oh yeah right, the murder habits.

“I think we could work with him at the moment, extra manpower wouldn’t hurt.” If they wouldn’t take Akechi’s word then hopefully my vote of confidence would count for something. 

“Now that you know of Maruki’s intentions I wonder what you’ll do about it.” From his words, it seemed like Akechi saw the rest of the thieves as some sort of circus attraction.

“If I’m going up against someone who can alter reality, the more allies I have with me the better.”

I could hear Sumire making noises and noticed her moving, she seemed to be regaining consciousness. 

“I...”

“Are you ok?” I wasn’t sure if I should refer to her by name, given her mental state it could cause a relapse of sorts (If that was the right word.)

“Oh, yes.” Sumire suddenly spat out the words in a panicked fashion.

“Ok, I’ll let you down.” I lowered myself down. Sumire stepped off of my back with ease.

“I’m sorry that I- caused you all so much trouble.” It wasn’t her fault, she didn’t cause us any problems.

“You don’t need to apologize.” Ann seemed to be upset that Sumire was behaving in such a manner.

“We should probably go our separate ways for today. We can discuss things tomorrow.”

The minor realization hit me like a slow-mo baseball to my stomach, we had school, winter break would be over.

“Aw, shit we have school tomorrow.” Ryuji slowly realized the same.

“Should we worry about Maruki though?” Ann asked

“He said he’d wait until February 3rd. I think we can remain calm until then.” Morgana chimed in. How come I had such a sloppy memory? 

“Sumire-chan, would you mind if I walked you home?” I was worried about her. Given everything that happened I wanted to be sure she got home ok.

“Thank you Akira-senpai, but I think I can get home on my own.” Her tone was somewhat forlorn and anxious, with her situation it seemed understandable.

“Ok. I hope you get home safely.”

With that, I left to go back home to Leblanc. 

ꗴꗳꗾꗳꗴ

“Hey, where were you two?”

“We were hanging out, no need to worry Sojiro.”

“What’s wrong Futaba?” Futaba seemed upset like she was trying to process something in her head, but wasn’t sure what it meant.

“Sojiro, about mom.” Oh, she knew that Wakaba was supposed to be dead, but Sojiro wasn’t aware that the world around him was any different.

“Wakaba? What about her?”

“Nah, it’s nothing! I just remembered something about her.”

“I see, I caught myself thinking about her earlier, funny coincidence? Well, I’m going to head home for the night. How about you Futaba?”  
“I think I’ll stick around a bit longer.”

“I can lock up boss.”

“Ok. Futaba just be sure to get home in an hour or two. Oh and Akira, you’ve got school tomorrow don’t stay up too late.”

“I got it, boss.” Note to self; ask Sojiro if I can call him dad.

ꗴꗳꗾꗳꗴ

“Mom’s really gone it seems that Sojiro sees it that way too.”

“I thought he still thought she was alive. I guess I’m not the brightest on social cues.”

“Pft.” I wasn’t sure if she thought what I said was funny. Note to self; remember this interaction five years from now so you can cringe at yourself.

“Oh! I forgot to tell you what happened before we came to your rescue!”

ꗴꗳꗾꗳꗴ

Futaba recounted how they had all met up to discuss the lingering uneasy feeling that they had. After a good deal of conversations about their lives, they all eventually realized that something about the world was off. That revelation also caused Morgana to revert back to a cat. With that, they had all gone off to the Metaverse to try and help. Yay mega happy ending.

ꗴꗳꗾꗳꗴ

“Once we got to Odaiba we saw the palace and well you can guess the rest. You were fighting this whole time, while I was just going around town without a care in the world. I’m sorry, deep down I suspected something was off. But, I was so happy to be with mom that those worries ended up being pushed into the corner of my mind. I just stopped trying to figure things out.”

“It’s ok Futaba. I don’t blame you. I know how much Wakaba’s death affected you. It’s understandable that you’d end up wanting to live out that dream.” I didn’t blame any of them for wanting to live in this fantasy world. 

“Yep, no worries! I’m fine with…” Halfway through the sentence, Futaba’s voice seemed to trail off of her train of thought.

“School’s tomorrow right? You should probably go to bed, you don’t want to oversleep tomorrow.”

“Futaba are you alright?” Her voice seemed shaky like she was trying to hold back her tears.

“I’m fine,” with that Futaba left Leblanc and went home for the night.

ꗴꗳꗾꗳꗴ

“Hey, you got something to say?” Morgana was asking me a question.

“Like what did you think of me as a human?”

“I wish to never speak of that ever again.” I really didn’t want to think about the fact that I thought human Morgana was a very bangable twink. I’m not sure if I should tell him that Ann will probably never return his affection, even when he was a rather hot twink.

I needed a gallon of brain bleach.

I ended up trying to get my mind off of Mangana while in bed. I ended up thinking about what could’ve been if Wakaba would’ve been alive. From the way they had interacted when I went to check on them, it seemed like Sojiro would’ve been a sorta dad to Futaba. Like platonic life partners thing. Though sleep was slowly starting to claim my brain.

  
  


ꗴꗳꗾꗳꗴ

The velvet room? I felt like I hadn’t been there in ages. Despite Yaldabaoth’s defeat the place still looked like a prison complete with a dumb-looking striped jumpsuit. The only thing that had changed was that I was no longer confined to my cell.

“It’s been quite some time” Oh, Lavenza.

“We have finally succeeded in reaching you.” I thought that they could show up anywhere. Was Maruki part of the cause of that?

“Why am I in this jumpsuit again?” 

“You have been imprisoned once more. This time not by a god, but a different entity. One who’s now bound your future. However, you have held fast in your free will and held on to the bond you’ve formed, allowing your friends to break free of this reality. You seem to be on the verge of grasping that reality once more. Our meeting is proof of that.” I didn’t really understand the last two sentences. However, the alarm rang, preventing me from asking any questions.

“It seems the time has come.”

“What am I supposed to do?” I wasn’t sure what I was supposed to do. One thing I felt I needed was advice.

“We are merely beings who provide aid to humans. You must be the one to determine your own actions.” Without another word, my dream slipped back into darkness. 

I thought I heard Lavenza say something.

“If the will of rebellion still thrives within you, I’m certain we will meet again.”

ꗴꗳꗾꗳꗴ

The next morning I recounted what happened last night to Morgana.

“Miss Lavenza told you all that? We should probably tell the others and meet up after school.”

I noticed that Sumire was approaching me. 

“Good morning.” The energetic nature that I was used to seeing from her had turned forlorn and melancholy. Given all of the stuff that happened to her, it was understandable.

“I’m sorry. I can’t believe what I tried to do to you two. I sincerely can't’ apologize enough for what happened.”

“It’s ok, I forgive you.” I honestly wanted Sumire to find her own happiness, wherever or whatever it may be.

“More importantly how have you been?” Morgana inquired.

“Physically I’m fine, but mentally I’m all mixed up.”

“How so?”

“My memories are kinda fuzzy, and I haven’t really processed everything yet. I’m going to need some time to think things out. I need to figure out what I want to do with myself from now on.”

I wasn’t sure what to say so I just nodded in affirmation.

ꗴꗳꗾꗳꗴ

When class started Kawakami mentioned that next year we’ll have to worry about college entrance exams. God that was going to be stressful. I think I’d rather deal with the stress of navigating the interrogation room again than do entrance exams. 

ꗴꗳꗾꗳꗴ

**Yusuke:** Is everyone rested?

**Ann:** More or less. I ended up passing out when I got home.

**Haru:** Same here.

**Haru:** I think I’ve sorted out all my thoughts, but I’d like to hear everyone else’s thoughts.

I’d like to tell you all something.

**Ann:** Let’s meet up at the hideout then.

**Ryuji:** Got it! See ya there!

**Futaba:** I’ll be waiting for you.

“We should probably tell everyone about Miss Lavenza. Also, we need a game plan from here on out.” Yeah, I got it Mona you don’t need to constantly remind me.

ꗴꗳꗾꗳꗴ

  
  


After getting to Leblanc I did my best to recount what Lavenza had told me. 

Yusuke was the first to speak. “We have to choose our own path? Akechi did say we’d have to determine our own path, it seems like he was correct.”

“We can’t accept this reality, but that means we’ll have to fight Dr. Maruki, right,” Haru chimed in.

“That’s probably going to happen. We’ve pretty much declared our opposition to him and made it clear there’s little room for negotiation. Although Maruki has made it clear he doesn’t want to fight, it’s likely we’ll have to fight him regardless.” At least, those were my thoughts on the matter.

“We’ll have to confront Maruki and steal his heart. In a way, it’s business as usual for us.” Morgana attempted to reassure the others.

“Dr. Maruki’s an adult with distorted desires, but that desire is for us to be happy, right?” Ann was right, Maruki’s palace was more akin to Futaba’s. But even then there was an entire leagues’ worth of difference between the two.

“So far the Phantom Thieves have only changed the hearts of truly evil people. Though Dr. Maruki is very different from past targets.” Haru was right. Maruki seemed misguided in his actions at minimum.

“Well, I think we know what we need to do. Haru’s right, Maruki ain’t a shitty person at all. There’s probably a ton of people who are happy in this reality. Hell, maybe he’s doing the right thing. But I still feel like this reality is wrong, ya know? We’ll decide what’s right for us, that’s what we agreed on when we went to help Akira in the palace. If changing Doc’s heart fixes reality then I’m willing to do it.” After Ryuji’s statement, there was a small but noticeable pause in the room. 

“Uh so does anyone want to say something?”

“Sorry I was thinking about how Ryuji’s right.” Makoto’s statement helped to break the silence.

“So we’re changing our target’s heart not to reform society, but to acquire the reality that we believe in. This has me rather excited,” Yusuke declared. 

“Then it’s unanimous!” Ann exclaimed.

“Well, that means our next step is decided.” Morgana made it clear the decision was final.

“Let’s resume our infiltration tomorrow.” Even though it would be harsh I wanted to get to Maruki’s treasure ASAP.

“Considering how he acted he’s probably expecting us to infiltrate his palace.”

“That reminds me how is he capable of messing with reality?” Ryuji inquired.

“I’m not really sure either I think we’re more at the stage of getting the damn arrow out of our leg than wasting precious time wondering how it got there.” Unfortunately, I couldn’t really answer Ryuji’s question.

“It probably wouldn’t hurt to dig up some info on Maruki. But that still wouldn’t explain his powers.” 

Futaba chimed in “I’ll bet he has some knowledge about cognitive psience, it would explain a bit. Though he’d need very extensive knowledge of the subject.”

My phone started buzzing in my pocket. I didn’t recognize the number but it might not hurt to see who it was.

“Good day. This is Lavenza” 

“New phone who dis?”

“Huh? Well, the will of your rebellion has reached new heights. We wish to provide you aid if you find it agreeable.”

“Aid of any kind seems very helpful.”

“Wait, man, how is she even calling you?” I don’t know Ryuji. Weird velvet room magic? Maybe they have a landline.

“How does she know about the strength of our wills? Did she wiretap you?” Futaba I don’t know. 

“Her timing is just a bit too perfect, maybe she did?” Landline Ryuji, landline.

“I haven’t performed any form of surveillance,” Lavenza replied.

“It seems she can hear you Ryuji,” Yusuke observed.

“There’s something I wish to tell you regarding your current situation. However, my communication abilities are reaching their limits, let us meet up in person tomorrow.”

“Where should we go?”

“It would be best to choose a location that is accessible to all parties. Therefore, let’s meet at your school.”

“Lavenza’s going to be at our school?!” Yes, Ann.

“In that case, I’ll see you tomorrow.” With that Lavenza hung up.

“How’s she gonna get into the school? Is she going to walk through the front gate?” IDK magic maybe.

“All we have left to discuss is whatever Lavenza has to say and if we should team up with Akechi.” Thanks for restating the obvious Mona.

“Considering what Akira has told us it does seem like we share goals with him.” Given our past with him Makoto’s hesitation was understandable.

“I think we should team-up,” Futaba interjected.

“Maruki has the power to change reality itself. If we’re gonna try and fight him we’ll need Akechi’s help,” Futaba explained.

“Plus, if he does betray us again, we’ll just take him out.” Note to self Haru has a sadistic streak.

“Let’s meet up in Shujin tomorrow. I’ll take care of figuring out how to get Yusuke and Futaba in the school.” Makoto’s so cool. 

“Well, let’s head home for now.” Ann was right, it seemed like we didn’t have much else to discuss.

ꗴꗳꗾꗳꗴ

**Ann:** So how is Lavenza going to get into the school?

**Ann:** I hope she doesn’t get lost or anything.

**Ryuji:** Don’cha think it’s a bad idea to have her wandering around in that getup?

**Makoto:** That’s true, hopefully she doesn’t run into someone who gives her a hard time.

**Ann:** If someone does you better have a good excuse to get her out of a bind! Looking at you Akira!

**Akira:** I can handle it.

**Ryuji:** What would you even say though? Aren’t your excuses somewhat limited as a transfer student?

**Futaba:** Idk say she’s your little sister or something.

**Yusuke:** I’m pretty sure she’d contact us if something were to go wrong. 

**Haru:** That’s true, I think we can put our faith in Lavenza.

**Makoto:** Agreed, it’s up to you Akira. Let us know if there are any changes to our plans.

**Makoto:** Good night everyone!

**Akira:** Dream of bedbugs tonight!

ꗴꗳꗾꗳꗴ

“Hey.”

“Eh sorry, it’s nothing.”

“What is it, Mona?”

“I was just remembering what happened that night. The night before we went to the depths of mementos. Remember how I said I’d found a place where I belong? Even though I said that and truly believed it, I still fell right into Maruki’s hands. I know how much I’ve said that I want to be human, more than once I thought that being one would give me a chance with Lady Ann. What I did was so lame. I can’t believe I was off having fun while you were trying to help us.”

“It’s ok, I’m not mad at you.” I wanted to pick up Mona and reassure him that I’d always care about him.

“Thanks, now that I think about it, you’ve been helping me since the very beginning. Hell, I was locked in a cell when you found me, I’m not cool at all.”

“You’re already really cool. You’re the one who taught us how to steal hearts, to begin with. Without you, we wouldn’t have come this far without you.”

“Come on! Quit buttering me up! You don’t have to tell me twice though, I’m going to be super cool from here onward! You know what? I’m going to make you a promise, from here on I’ll be super independent!”

Morgana continued, “I kept relying on you for everything because I thought deep down, I thought you could figure things out for me.” It was rare to see Mona display such emotional vulnerability. By “figure things out” he probably meant the mystery of his existence and his memories.

“I’m going to stand on my own four feet. And I’m going to be the one to protect you. I promise I will!”

Morgana seemed to have gained a new resolve. Similar to last time his persona evolved into something new.

**_Morgana’s Persona_ ** **Mercurius** **_has transformed into_ ** **Diego** **_!_ **

“All right, time to give Maruki his just desserts! Anyone who tries to pull one over on us like that is gonna get what’s coming to them!”

“Let’s do this! But I’m getting really tired.” My eyes felt heavy, my brain felt fried, and my heart felt empty and exhausted.

“Well, that’s a first. Tonight I won’t have to yell at you to go to bed.”

“G’night Mona”

ꗴꗳꗾꗳꗴ

In class, Mr. Inui gave us a lecture about new year’s tradition. Come on, almost all of us know that stuff. He went on to talk about other cultural holidays and traditions. For obvious reasons, my mind was in other places.

“There’s a phrase referring to the Shinto gods as a collective. Anyone know it offhand? Takamaki-san! Do you know the answer?”  
Shit.

“Crap! Akira do you know this?”

“I think it refers to how many there are.”

“That sounds correct, but uhh how many are there?”

It wasn’t ten thousand, fuck.

“I think it’s eight million.”

“The phrase is the eight million gods of Shintoism.”

“That’s correct.” Mr. Inui congratulated. Yay, I didn’t mess up! I really thought it was ten thousand for a second.

“They’re called the “yaoyaozoru no kami’ of course the eight million part isn’t meant to be taken very literally. ‘Yaoyaozoru’ is more or less an uncountable number. In the olden days, people believed that gods resided in everything. One could say those traditions still affect us today.”

  
  


ꗴꗳꗾꗳꗴ

It was finally lunchtime. 

“Hey you’ve been very busy lately, don’t forget to eat.” 

“I know Mona, we need to meet up with Lavenza.”

I saw a butterfly, floating through the hallway. I should follow it.

Maybe it was related to Lavenza.

“Hm, that’s”

“Let’s follow it.”

ꗴꗳꗾꗳꗴ

I followed the butterfly all the way into the nurse’s office in the practice building. 

“Let’s see what’s in the nurse’s office.”

When I entered the nurse's office the butterfly landed on the chair the butterfly turned into Lavenza.

“Hello. Thank you for coming.” 

“What’s with the formality?”

“That’s odd. I thought that humans exchange such phrases upon meeting. Would it have been more appropriate to say ‘Wazzup’ instead?”

“Please don’t ever say ‘wazzup’ Lavenza.”

“It’s easier to maintain my presence in this area since the cognition is weaker, let us continue this conversation once everyone has arrived.” Lavenza’s voice trailed off as she seemed to grow sleepy.

  
  


ꗴꗳꗾꗳꗴ

“Infiltration success!” Futaba was wearing a gym uniform, just as planned.

“I’m rather surprised that no one noticed us,” Yusuke commented.

“Considering that I didn’t have a good excuse for the school to let you in here, we’re lucky this went as well as it did,” Makoto elaborated.

“As long as you maintain an air of confidence you can convince anyone you belong.” Akechi strode into the room with his “detective prince” affect in full gear. He didn’t have to put on the effect since we all knew he was not the most mentally stable of people.

Back to his “normal” demeanor, he said, “I must say though I didn’t expect you to reach out to me for something like this.”

Haru spoke up, “It’s just as we said, we’ll accept your offer to work together for now.” No doubt Haru still held him with contempt for being responsible for her father’s death. 

“For the record, if you betray us we’ll make sure you regret it.” Futaba probably wouldn’t hesitate to beat his ass up either.

With a blue swirl of light, Lavenza appeared in the office. 

“It appears everyone has arrived.” Lavenza seemed like she still hadn’t fully recovered from earlier.

“Does this mean you’re ready to begin?”

“Isn’t that our line?” Ryuji commented.

“Lavenza could you just tell us what you wanted to say.” Please just get on with it.

“Yes, I wish to speak about the circumstances leading to Dr. Maruki gaining the power to warp reality as we know it. Along with the nature of his powers.”

“How do you know that?” Morgana inquired.

“I admit there will be a degree of speculation involved, however only a small amount. First I will explain the situation of our current reality. I believe that Maruki has manipulated the cognition of the public. This fact leads me to believe that he has altered the structure of Mementos.”

“He altered Mementos? How is that even possible?” Makoto interjected.

“Second, I thought Mementos had been destroyed in December, how is it still around?” Killing Yaldabaoth was supposed to erase Mementos. I hope Lavenza had a theory.

“Don’t forget about the Nav and Maruki’s palace. It seems that it’s stuck around whether we wanted it to or not.” Mona had a point, explanation or not this was happening. We had to roll with it and do something about it.

“Mementos is the cognition of the masses given form if he’s truly capable of controlling individuals’ cognition, and he were to gain access to Mementos. If that’s the case it would be no surprise that he could impact the cognition of the masses.”

“But how would he do that? We’re assuming that he has the power to control cognition, right?” I was hoping that Lavenza had an explanation for Ann’s question and frankly everyone’s question.

“Exactly. His ability to control cognition, let’s refer to it as ‘actualization’. It’s most likely that it’s a power unique to a persona.” 

“He’s a persona user?!” 

“That shouldn’t be possible.” I could guess Mona’s train of thought, palaces formed when the person had incredibly distorted desires, a persona was a person’s own shadow harnessed as a power in the cognitive world. Outside of very unique circumstances, it would be theoretically impossible to have both at the same time.

“Determining when Maruki first awakened to these powers would be nearly impossible. However, by the time he crossed your paths, there’s no doubt he was using his power of actualization, even if only subconsciously.”

“Still how is he using his persona in the real world?” 

“He was able to Sumire-san believe she was her sister, was it through this actualization?” Haru commented.

“Even if Maruki can use a persona that doesn’t explain how he changed Mementos.” Akechi was right on the money. We knew most of the puzzle pieces as to how Maruki was messing with reality though the crucial puzzle piece was missing. 

“Even if there was a power that could affect all of Mementos it’s on a whole other level than what we’ve seen so far. A single person shouldn’t be able to do that.” 

“Changing reality just by thinking about it that’s not something humans can do, that’s something like gods do.”

“That’s it!” I suddenly interjected. “Ann! Remember how Yaldabaoth tried to fuse Mementos and reality? I think maybe something similar is going on, though possibly to a lesser extent.” It was just a theory as to how he was able to do it on a wider scale than what he did with Sumire.

“I think it’s likely by fusing the world of cognition and the real world Maruki is able to use his actualization powers on the general public rather than just individual people.”

“That seems plausible after the God of Control was defeated, Maruki ended up taking over the false god’s position.”

“But how? Everyone thinks of Doc as a god now? That makes no sense!”

“The Phantom Thieves gained the public’s support after defeating the god of control, so it would follow that they would turn to the Phantom Thieves as their saviors. In that case, why did they turn to Maruki, who did none of the work that the Phantom Thieves did?”

Think, think, think. We had all talked to Maruki at some point about our troubles, from there he must have guessed our ideal reality. I got it when we beat Yaldabaoth none of us wanted the power to control reality, following some sort of succession rule the universe tossed that power onto someone we thought of as capable and saw as someone who could solve our problems, ie Maruki.

“It’s most likely because.”

“I think it’s because we all saw Maruki as the person we would trust most with that kind of power.” That was the broad strokes of my hypothesis.

“After we defeated the god of control our wish was for reality to be as Dr. Maruki described, and that made it happen?”

“I don’t remember wishing for that sort of stuff! When would we have had the chance to?”

“What about our counseling sessions?” Ann was right when talking about our problems Maruki probably proposed an alternate reality that we seemed open to.

“There’s no way of knowing if those situations were orchestrated or not, however the desire for a different reality was planted in your hearts. Thus, I have no doubt that your own desires led to their actualization.”

“So this is all our fault?” 

“We’re the ones who told him that the metaverse exists,” Futaba said despondently.

“It doesn’t matter, we need to stop him.” I knew that something had to be done.

“Right, let’s fight! If this is our fault we need to be the ones to fix it!” Futaba seemed motivated.

“This realization doesn’t change what we must do.”

“Very well then, allow me to proceed. The world is in a very unstable condition currently. On the day the God Of Control fused Mementos and the real world, the merging was undone through your efforts, and the two worlds are attempting to return to their initial states”

I get it. Mementos and reality were in fact fusing together again.

“So the world has reverted to a state where reality and Mementos are still fused to an extent.” Akechi, I was already thinking that! 

“So that would explain why his palace is visible in Odaiba!” I commented.

“As we speak, Maruki is still influencing reality. As slow as it may be, he still continues to actualize the wishes of the masses as a whole. Should this continue, reality and Mementos shall merge again. Once that happens, anyone trapped in the actualized world can never remember the original one.”

If we failed we would never remember the original world. The thought was existentially terrifying.

“This goes far beyond the masses as well. Although you all are persona users, it would be impossible to defy or rebel against Maruki in a world under his control.”

If we failed we had no chance of being able to retry. We would forget why we were even fighting. 

“Furthermore I believe that this fusion will conclude in about one month’s time.”

“We only have one month?!” Yusuke cried.

“I think we’ve done infiltrations in less time.” I tried to reassure everyone that we could do this.

“If my memory serves me correctly, February 3rd was the deadline that Dr. Maruki gave us right?” I’m pretty sure Haru was correct.

“Did he pick that date based on when his actualization will be completed?” 

“It seems possible,” Maybe he chose it subconsciously. 

“If that’s the case we just gotta steal his treasure by then.” Ah, Ryuji’s one-track mind was a treasure.

“Obviously we need to secure our infiltration route by the second of February,” Thanks, Mona.

“Allow me to produce the calling card. This is certain to be our final card, I’ll pour my heart and soul into its creation.” 

“However, I do think there are some unsolved questions.”

“What specifically Akechi?” I didn’t have any further questions about the stuff going on. To be honest my brain was starting to feel fried.

“The Nav and the palace ruler.”

“More specifically, why is the palace’s name blocked out? It doesn’t seem to interfere with the app’s functions.” IDK Makoto cognition maybe?

“That’s likely a product of Maruki’s cognition. He most likely knew you might infiltrate the Metaverse. As long as he permits your existence your infiltration method will still be around. However, in his heart, he must have feared that you would learn that he was the palace’s ruler. Perhaps such a feeling manifested of hiding the ruler’s identity from you.”

“But if he could, couldn’t he just actualize us out of existence?” Futaba had a point. I wondered why he wouldn’t have just smoted us already.

“I think he wants us to come around to his side.” Given how Maruki last time we were in his palace I suspected that was his intention.

“He did say he wanted us to accept this world. Although it may be hard to believe, we do mutually benefit from his actualization, maybe he truly wants us to submit.” Akechi’s line of reasoning was solid.

“Even if this does fix shit for us I still don’t want it, I can’t accept the world being treated like that. Let’s start our infiltration tomorrow.”

We all nodded in agreement with Ryuji’s plan of action. 

“And are you on board?” he directed at Akechi.

“Why are you asking?”

“The Phantom Thieves don’t act unless we have a unanimous vote.”

“Fine then, I’m in,” with that our course of action had been decided. We were going to steal Takuto Maruki’s heart.


End file.
